Google the #1 most desirable employer for students

Annika Blau

Creativity, flexibility and ‘fun’: it’s a winning formula for hooking in millennials with Google voted the most desirable employer for the third year in a row.

The most common responses from students pointed to Google’s ‘positive’ and ‘innovative’ work environment, with a large proportion saying it seemed like a ‘fun’ place to work and referring to the work culture as a ‘lifestyle’.

Google have gained notoriety for their workplace perks and quirks like nap pods, unlimited gourmet food and onsite massages. It seems the publicity has cut through, with students giving specific examples like ‘no dress code’ and ‘flexible work hours’.

Another key theme was that the company ‘valued their employees’ with strong staff welfare policies. One student wrote, ‘their whole organisational structure and systems seem oriented towards employee satisfaction and performance’. Another wrote, ‘there’s a company emphasis on wellbeing, like sleep and meditation.’

Stephanie Borgman, the company’s Head of Staffing Programs for Australia and New Zealand echoed this, saying: ‘Google has many wellness programs to ensure employees are satisfied, have fun and feel healthy at work.’

Students also nominated Google’s commitment to diversity – a key theme of the survey overall, with 74% of students saying that diversity was important to them when choosing an employer.

With Google’s technology surrounding us in our daily lives, it’s little wonder graduates are drawn across disciplines to the high-profile employer.

‘When GradAustralia ask graduates and interns why they come to Google, the answer is the impact they can make on a global scale,’ says Borgman.

‘They want to build technology that helps millions of people live happier and easier lives – products that change the way people access information, do business, learn and connect with one another.’

Fellow tech giants Apple and Microsoft joined Google in the Top 10 at #4 and #8 respectively, with Facebook coming close behind at #11. The rest of the Top 10 was dominated by management consulting companies, plus the Commonwealth Bank, BHP Billiton and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Tech companies have jumped up through the Top 100 list in the three years that GradAustralia has completed the survey. Apple jumped 66 places from 2016 and Facebook appeared on the list for the first year after they began hiring Australian graduates.

But the allure of tech giants remains divided: only 9% of female students surveyed expressed interest in a career in IT, technology and telecoms, compared with 28% of male students.